


Negotiations

by rudbeckia



Series: Spookylux Huxloween 2018 [24]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Accidental Death, Car Accidents, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Mistaken Identity, Poisoning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-24
Updated: 2018-10-24
Packaged: 2019-08-05 10:42:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16366331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rudbeckia/pseuds/rudbeckia
Summary: Huxloween day 24: Mistaken IdentityBen goes to meet Hux at a bar with a few hotel rooms above it. At the entrance, he gives the name ‘Hux’ and that sets in motion events that change both Ben’s and Hux’s expectations for the future.





	Negotiations

A spatter of stars twinkled in the deep indigo sky and the air promised frost by dawn. A car door opened. Chatter and laughter shattered the silence. The door slammed and footsteps clattered and scraped up stone steps to the glass doors of the bar. Ben stood aside to let the two young women pass then smiled as he heard them sweet-talk the bouncer into letting them in for free. He checked the name of the bar again, sighed and plodded up to the entrance.  
“Hi. I should be on the guest list. First Order. I’m with Hux.”  
The bouncer ran a finger down a list of names.  
“Yes,” she nodded. “Up one set of stairs. I’ll radio that you’re on your way.”  
“Thanks,” said Ben as he pulled the door open and looked for the stairs.

The directions were vague, but the room was easy to find because someone was lurking at the top of the stairs.  
“Ah! So glad you could be here on time. Please, this way sir. My name is Pandion and I will be looking after arrangements this evening.”  
Ben frowned but followed. “I don’t remember specifying an exact time but—“  
“Oh! Of course not. But your reputation precedes you so we like to be professional about things. Now. We’re all in here.”  
Pandion opened a door and Ben stepped into the room. Four more pairs of eyes regarded him with barely disguised fascination.  
“So,” said an elderly man. “Allow me to conduct introductions since we have never met face to face before. My name is Rax, although you will know that already from our interactions online. I am pleased to see that you look more like your avatar and less like your father. These people are Shale, Tashu and Crassus.” Ben frowned at each face in turn, wondering when would be a good time to say there had been some mistke. But Rax continued talking. “I hope you are as unlike your late father in manners as you are in looks.”  
“Oh, I assure you,” said Ben. “I am nothing like my father. Why—“  
“Indeed, why don’t we get to business? We are willing to offer a bid of this much.”  
Rax slid a folded sheet of foolscap across to Ben. Ben looked at it for a few seconds then picked it up. His eyebrows shot up at the figure written on it in fine calligraphy and he let the paper flutter back onto the polished wood. Rax frowned. Crassus snatched the paper away and muttered _told you it was too low_ then produced a second folded sheet of paper. He glanced at it then passed it to Ben. The figure was significantly higher. Ben sat down.  
“What do you expect to get for this?” he asked, snapping a little in his effort to hide his confusion.  
Shale and Tashu looked at each other. Tashu spoke. “Exactly what we agreed when we met in the middle of your training sim. Full and exclusive use of Starkiller.”  
Ben leaned forward. “Yes,” he said, sensing a game in play that he could not quit, and guessing at the rules. “But what do you want Starkiller _for?”_  
Ben was met by four silent, gaping faces.  
“That is not your concern,” Rax said. “You have Starkiller. We want it. We can pay. What else is there to consider?”  
Ben sat back and smiled. “Well then,” he said. “What about the ethics of producing such a powerful weapon that can be seized and controlled by a single operator?”  
Tashu nudged Crassus and Crassus pushed a third figure at Ben.

As he reached for it, Ben’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He glanced at the screen then smiled at the people negotiating sums of money he could not comprehend for something he did not have and said, “Please excuse me for a moment. There is someone I wish to consult.”  
“I knew it!” said Shale. “Brendol’s still driving this.”  
Ben’s smile froze. He turned his attention on Shale. “I assure you,” he said in his most pompous tone, “that Brendol has no influence over my decisions.”  
He walked out of the room. Pandion was waiting for him on the landing. Ben spied a redheaded figure at the door, arguing and gesticulating wildly with the bouncer who had let him in. “Excuse me,” he said to Pandion. “I need fresh air.”

Ben trotted downstairs and out to where Hux waved his driving licence at the impassive bouncer.  
“Uh, hi?” he said. “Could you let him in? He’s with me.”  
“Yes sir. Of course. Any guest of Mr Hux is welcome.”  
Hux started to argue but Ben grabbed his arm and yanked him inside.  
“Calm it and listen,” he said as Hux revved up for a fight. “I have no idea why these idiots all think I’m you but they’ve offered this much.” Ben leaned over and murmured a figure on Hux’s ear. Hux stepped back and stared at Ben. “That’s not the final deal. How much is it worth to you?”  
“Upstairs,” Hux said. “Now.”

Hux led and Ben followed into the room on the left, a moderate sized bedroom. Hux whirled to face him.  
“You have to close this. I can’t step in now and say _Oh so sorry that’s my boyfriend you’ve accidentally been dealing with. I invited him for a celebratory dinner, drink and a fuck and he decided to pretend to be me._ You need to talk them up another forty percent at least.”  
“Hux I didn’t decide to pretend to be you. They all just assumed and I was so deep in it when I realised that I thought if I said I wasn’t you they’d—“  
“Shit!” Hux said, cutting off Ben’s final words _walk away and refuse to deal with you._ “You’re right. They have only seen my game avatar and I chose the dark-haired, leather-bound he-man. Rax would kill you.”  
Ben sat heavily on the bed. It creaked and groaned under him. “Kill me?”  
“Yes, Ben. The people I do business with are not nice. They want to rule the planet and I have the tools they need.”  
Ben frowned at Hux. “If you have the tools, why don’t you rule the planet yourself?”  
“Don’t be silly, Ben. Nobody would... Nobody...” Hux sucked his lip. Ben smiled.  
“I would. You and me.”  
“Well.” Hux shook off his frown and clasped his phone, thumb ready. “I need Opan. Here’s how it’s going to go.”

*****

 _Tourist Dies As Thames Water Taxi Explodes_  
_An elderly man whose identity is being withheld died after the water taxi he hired suffered a fuel tank explosion. No others were hurt and the driver claims he has no idea how it could have happened. “My boat was fully inspected, safe as ‘ouses and..._

 _Mystery Illness Claims Elderly Couple On Trip to Capital_  
_A couple, said to be in their seventies but in good health, were found dead in their hotel room at noon after they failed to check out on time this morning. Sources say that they may have been infected with a particularly nasty strain of E. Coli after eating at..._

 _Ex-Military Adviser Leaps From Tower Bridge_  
_Disgraced General Valco Pandion was seen to leap to his death from Tower bridge at 2.35am despite the action of a brave passer by. An upstanding member fo the public who asked not to be named said, “He was just too slippery.”_

 _Banker Dies In Car Crash_  
_Arsin Crassus, currently under investigation for a number of offences related to Modern Slavery, was found dead in his car shortly after six this morning. He appears to have dozed off at the wheel and his car was found, partially crushed and on its roof, down an embankment at the side of the A303. Traffic police say he was found at a notorious accident black-spot and his death is not being treated as suspicious._

Ben looked across the top of the local red-top tabloid rag at Hux. He smiled. “I see Opan had a busy night.”  
“He did,” confirmed Hux. “I’d offer him a raise since we have more money than even I know how to spend, but he’s perfectly happy with a warm oil bath, a wifi charging module and faster broadband.”  
“I only have one question,” Ben said, smoothing his paper on the kitchen table. Hux raised an eyebrow.  
“Yes?”  
“What exactly is Starkiller?”


End file.
